With over three decades under its belt, the Rio Grande Valley Celtic Festival and Highland Games drew top amateur, novice, lightweight, youth and masters competitors from across the United States.

2019 Rio Grande Valley Celtic Festival and Highland Games: Burns and Humphreys Win on New Games Field
by Francis Brebner

The 2019 Rio Grande Valley Celtic Festival and Highland Games, held at Rotary Park in Bernalillo, New Mexico, celebrated its 31st anniversary at its new games location, with more than six thousand spectators. Hosting the fifth leg of the IHGF All-American Highland Games qualifying series for men’s and women’s A  group divisions, the games attracted over 100 athletes from across the USA, who competed in the A, B and C, masters, lightweight, novice, and youth categories, with several field records and four world records established.
 
Men’s A Group 

Nine athletes made up the A group: Sean Burns, Chad Thompson, Dan Murphy, Bryan Staggs, Sean Smith, Zach Hernandez, Casey Head, Michael Pfeiffer, and Jeremiah Giambartolomei.

The competition got off to a great start in the 22-lb. Braemar stone, with Burns taking the first win of the competition with a putt of 42’ 10-1/2”. Smith placed second at 38’ 4-3/4”, with Hernandez third at 37’ 8-3/4”.
 
The 16-lb. open stone was a second win for Burns with a putt 47’ 4”. Smith followed at 44’ 11-1/2”, with Murphy in third at 43’ 9”.



In the 56-lb. weight for distance, the title of the IHGF All-American 56-lb. Weight for Distance Championships was up for grabs. Thompson, the 2018 champion, was looking to hold on to the title, and his best of 35’ 2-1/2” was good for the win and title for another year. Second was Murphy with a throw of 32’ 9”, and third Smith at 31’ 11-1/2”.
 


In the 28-lb. weight for distance, Thompson produced a hail of throws over 70’, with a best of 72’ 11” for back-to-back wins. A ding-dong battle resulted in Murphy pulling off second place at 67’ 9-1/2” and Smith taking third at 67’ 6-1/4”.
 
The 22-lb. hammer was a close competition between the top five athletes. Thompson inched ahead of Burns for the win at 93’ 2-1/4” to Burns’s 92’ 8” and Murphy was a close third at 91’ 11-1/4”.
 


Thompson produced a series of class throws all over 115’ in the 16-lb. hammer, with a best of 119’ 6” for win. Smith was second at 116’ 1-1/4” and Burns third at 113’ 10-1/4”.



The 56-lb. weight over bar was epic as Staggs dominated at a height of 15’ 6”, surpassing his previous personal best of 15’. A four-way tie took place at 14’ between Burns, Thompson, Murphy, and Giambartolomei, with Burns second on countback.



The caber at 18’ 7” long and 125 lb. was won by Murphy, the only athlete to toss the caber, nailing a toss of 11:58. On the lighter scoring caber at 18’ 4” and 110 lb., Staggs took second with a toss of 12:05; Giambartolomei was third with a 12:10 effort.  
 


In the 20-lb. sheaf toss, Burns cleared 30’ for the win. Second was a three-way tie at 27’ between Thompson, Staggs and Pfeiffer.
 
Overall places                 
1. Sean Burns
2. Chad Thompson
3. Dan Murphy
4. Bryan Staggs
5. Michael Pfeiffer
6. Jeremiah Giambartolomei
7. Sean Smith
8. Zach Hernandez
9. Casey Head
 
Thompson will join Burns, Eli Kiener, John Anthony, and Skylar Arneson at the finals of the IHGF All-American Highland Games Championships, to be held at the Great Plains Renaissance Festival and Highland Games in September.
 
Women’s A Group
A tough field in the women’s A group included Emalie Humphreys, Teresa Nystrom, Christena Georgas Burns, Hazel George, Christine Holtgrewe, Mikaela Schafer, and Ashley Weber.


In the 13-lb. Braemar stone, Humphreys grabbed the first win of the competition with a nice putt of 32’, followed by Nystrom at 30’ 10-1/2” and Weber at 30’ 4-3/4”.

Humphreys and Weber tussled in the 9-lb. open stone with Humphreys just nudging ahead for the win at 41’ 3-1/2” to Weber’s 40” 1-3/4”. Nystrom was third at 39’ 7-3/4”.



Weber and Burns went all out in the 14-lb. weight for distance with a regal series of throws over 60’, with Weber’s best at 63’ 5” good for the win. Burns was second at 61’ 9-3/4”, with Humphreys third at 58’ 7-3/4”.



The heat continued in the 28-lb. weight for distance as Humphreys nailed the winning throw of 34’ 1/2”. Second was Holtgrewe at 31’ 9-1/2” and third Nystrom at 29’ 3”.



Weber made a strong start in the 12-lb. hammer, unleashing a hail of class throws with a best of 88’ 1/2” to take the win. A tight battle for second ended with Humphreys at 83’ 1”, inches ahead of Nystrom at 82’ 9-1/4”.



In the 16-lb. heavy hammer, Weber let fly an awesome throw of 69’ 10” for the victory. Once again in second was Humphreys with a nice throw of 65’ 5” and in third Burns at 62’ 9”.



The 28-lb. weight over bar was fantastic as Humphreys and Nystrom went head-to-head, both clearing 14’ with the win going to Humphreys on countback. Weber, Burns and Holtgrewe each did 12’.



Humphreys put up a great performance as she cleared 26’ in the 10-lb. sheaf over bar for the win. Nystrom, Burns and Holtgrewe tied at 24’.
 
The caber, which was 12’ 7” and 51 lb., was won by Nystrom on countback over Weber, both doing 12:00 tosses. Humphreys and Burns both did 12:05. 



Overall places
1. Emalie Humphreys
2. Teresa Nystrom
3. Ashley Weber
4. Christena Georgas Burns
5. Christine Holtgrewe
6. Mikaela Shafer
7. Hazel George
 
Humphreys will join Meagan McKee, Felicia Baker Baltren, Ashley Weber, and Jamie Channel at the finals of the IHGF All-American Highland Games Championships in September at the Great Plains Renaissance Festival in Wichita.
 
Reflecting on the overall competition and the new games field, the location created an exciting atmosphere, where three master’s world records were broken. It is always good to see young blood coming into the sport, with Hazel George, at the age of only 16, competing the woman’s A group and putting up a commendable all-round performance, following in her father’s footsteps. Also Anya Holtgrewe, only 13 years of age, is a third-generation thrower, following in the footsteps of her mother, Christina Holtgrewe, and grandmother, Michelle Crownhart. Both have a great future ahead of them as they continue to progress in the sport of highland games.


The IHGF would like to thank festival director Libby Casarez , along with athletic director Chad Thompson and assistant director Laura Thompson for all their hard work in keeping things flowing during the weekend; and Grant Oliver and all the judges and the RMSA for looking after all the athletes so well, with two nice BBQ lunches on the field.
 


The next qualifying games on the circuit will be this coming weekend at the Costa Mesa Scottish Fest USA Highland Games, the sixth leg of the IHGF All-American Highland Games Championships series.


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